Index > Hey Joe

Re: Hey Joe

Posted by Joe (@joe) on June 2, 2026, 9:32 p.m.

I’ll watch the video, but here’s my first reaction just looking at the rankings listed below the video, without listening to him explaining his hot takes first.
An “x” means I haven’t seen it.

I’m not going to comment on every movie

75 - 00:01:03 - Kentucky Pride - x

74 - 00:03:02 - Tobacco Road - This one is pretty painful. But it at least looks good, and it’s interestingly bad. Watching it makes me feel like I understand what it’s like for people who hate John Ford to watch his movies. Joseph McBride labeled a handful of Ford movies his “evil twin” movies, and this one of them. His best quote about it (possibly about anything ever) appeared not in his massive book on Ford, but in a comment on Dave Kehr’s old blog, “I yield to nobody in my defense of Ford’s humor, but that movie makes Green Acres look like Bresson.
It might be his most grating movie, but there are a bunch of others that are less interesting.

73 - 00:04:53 - Two Rode Together - Aw, come on, this one is really good! Actually, McBride thought it was another “evil twin” movie, but it has lots of defenders. It’s one of Ford’s most cynical and most commercially uncooperative movies. He claimed not to like the script, and said he only made it as a favor to Jimmy Stewart, who might not have liked it either, I don’t remember, but he was attached to it and needed a director. It’s not always easy to tell when Ford was being serious though.

72 - 00:07:24 - The Blue Eagle - x
71 - 00:09:36 - Born Reckless - Yeah, this one’s just boring.
70 - 00:11:56 - Cameo Kirby - x
69 - 00:13:57 - The Black Watch - x

68 - 00:16:18 - The Horse Soldiers - This Civil War movie is another one I’ll go to bat for, and another one that lots of people like, even if it has a reputation as second tier Ford. It’s not perfect, there is a scene where the doctor played by William Holden talks about how he hates war, and then John Wayne talks about how he hates doctors because of how his dying wife suffered at their hands, and it’s well directed and acted but Wayne’s dialogue is so obviously contrived just to create symmetry. But there’s plenty to like, and the tragedy-then-farce of Wayne’s command reluctantly slaughtering the doomed confederate charge and later running away from a bunch of kids from a military school (because killing them would go too far) is wonderful. Shocking that his one is so low.

67 - 00:19:27 - Mogambo - Another good one with plenty of fans. It’s a remake of Red Dust. Sure, Red Dust is sexier, but this one has more heart (and less indefensible racism).

66 - 00:21:59 - Doctor Bull - By far the worst of the three with Will Rogers, but there are worse movies above it.

65 - 00:23:59 - Mary of Scotland - His most famous and famously bad movie.
64 - 00:26:26 - The Brat - x
63 - 00:28:49 - Gideon’s Day (or, Gideon of Scotland Yard) -
62 - 00:31:28 - Four Men and a Prayer - x - This is one of two on this list that I actually own but forgot about and need to go back and watch.
61 - 00:33:53 - What Price Glory - Not terrible, but probably his worst post-Stagecoach movie.
60 - 00:36:32 - Hell Bent - x

59 - 00:38:41 - Cheyenne Autumn - A noble failure. It has alot of problems, but I think there’s significant value in it. The humorous middle interlude with Jimmy Stewart and Arthur Kennedy as Earp and Holiday is great, although I get why some people disapprove of it in context of the rest of the movie.
58 - 00:41:59 - How the West was Won - He only directed about 12 minutes of this, and his segment is generally well regarded even by people who don’t like the rest, so I’m curious to see if this video is looking at the whole thing, or just Ford’s bit.
57 - 00:44:38 - Air Mail - x
56 - 00:47:03 - Just Pals -
55 - 00:49:33 - Up the River - Bogart’s first film.
54 - 00:54:42 - Straight Shooting -
53 - 00:56:28 - Upstream - x
52 - 00:58:52 - Donovan’s Reef - This probably appeals to the far poles of auteurist film geeks who love John Ford and people who are primarily John Wayne fans more than it does everyone who falls in between.
51 - 01:01:54 - The Shamrock Handicap - x
50 - 01:04:31 - Wee Willie Winkie -
49 - 01:06:30 - The Rising of the Moon -
48 - 01:08:40 - When Willie Comes Home -

47 - 01:11:13 - How Green was My Valley - I guess it would be boring if all the obvious classics were actually at the top, but this one gets so much unnecessary crap from people who watch demanding that it prove it really deserved the Oscar over Citizen Kane. It’s still a great film, and I think I’ve watched it more times than Kane.

46 - 01:12:46 - The Grapes of Wrath - I guess I’m not surprised that these two are net to each other.

45 - 01:15:56 - 7 Women - Sticking this in the middle with the two big Oscar winners at least proves he’s not pandering to anybody.

44 - 01:18:34 - Pilgrimage - Is this his best pre-Stagecoach movie? TBH, I haven’t seen it in a really long time, but from my memory it might be.
43 - 01:21:49 - Judge Priest - Is THIS his best pre-Stagecoach movie? We were just talking about it!

42 - 01:24:20 - Arrowsmith - Is this better than I remember, because I’d think it belongs near the bottom, not right above 5 masterpieces. Generally, I think that movies that are nominated for best picture should at least be one of the director’s 40 best movies.

41 - 01:27:10 - 3 Godfathers - Christmas movie, one of Ford’s favorites of his own work. I think he shamelessly voted for it in a Sight and Sound poll.

40 - 01:29:38 - North of Hudson Bay - x
39 - 01:32:01 - The World Moves On - x - This is the other one I own and haven’t watched. It’s generally regarded as being pretty awful.
38 - 01:34:51 - The Prisoner of Shark Island - Inappropriately pulpy title for this movie about Doctor Mudd. I like it, but this is one that I think gets overrated by some critics, although it’s not generally well known. Honestly, this is the Ford movie where the racism makes me generally uncomfortable/embarrassed
.
37 - 01:37:11 - Bucking Broadway -
36 - 01:38:52 - The Long Gray Line - The whole movie is good, but I always remember it for the depiction of the 1913 Notre Dame vs. Army game.
35 - 01:41:59 - She Wore a Yellow Ribbon - One of his most beautiful color films and one of John Wayne’s best performances. For such a crowd pleaser it breaks alot of rules.
34 - 01:45:17 - Riley the Cop - x
33 - 01:47:05 - Young Mr. Lincoln - The best Lincoln movie?
32 - 01:49:05 - The Hurricane - Didn’t expect to see it this high, but it has the best special effects.
31 - 01:52:33 - Four Sons - Maybe my favorite of his silents
30 - 01:55:12 - The Wings of Eagles - John Wayne without his Toupee.
29 - 01:58:44 - Salute - x
28 - 02:01:46 - My Darling Clementine - Low for this
27 - 02:04:41 - Men Without Women - What a dumb title. Guys get trapped in a submarine. It feels like the kind of movie where they need to figure out how to survive, but it’s not about that, which is weird. Not better than My Darling Clementine
26 - 02:07:24 - Steamboat Road the Bend -
25 - 02:09:35 - Seas Beneath - I don’t remember this, and I saw it for the first time more recently than most of the others.
24 - 02:12:09 - Sergeant Rutledge - Woody Strode’s best and personal favorite role.
23 - 02:14:59 - The Whole Town is Talking - Based on the title, what would you guess this was about? Okay, who had “Edward G. Robinson plays a gangster and some boring office worker who looks exactly like said gangster. Comedy ensues”?

22 - 02:17:54 - The Plough and the Stars - When this obscure film is discussed at all, it tends to draw polarized reactions. I don’t remember falling on either poll though.

21 - 02:21:07 - The Sun Shines Bright - This movie
20 - 02:23:25 - Wagon Master - and this movie, are both small movies that Ford made for himself, deservedly beloved by his fans.

19 - 02:26:27 - Rio Grande - I like this very much, but I’d have to agree with the conventional wisdom that it’s the weakest of the cavalry trilogy. It’s one of his most hawkish films, possibly because he was making it in exchange for The Quiet Man and didn’t want to make a fuss as long as he had something he could work with.
18 - 02:29:08 - Flesh - x
17 - 02:31:39 - The Lost Patrol - Sorry, but this is my least favorite of his really well regarded movies. I only saw it once, about 18 years ago, so maybe I missed something.

16 - 02:33:55 - Drums Along the Mohawk - Maybe this is too high, but I always put it above its reputation, so I’ll welcome a little rating inflation as a correction. They supposedly cut one of the big battles at the last minute when Ford and Fonda were talking about the scene, and Ford realized that Fonda described it so wonderfully that it would be more powerful not to show the battle, and then just have the hero recount what just happened. Can you imagine that happening now?
15 - 02:36:43 - Hangman’s House -
14 - 02:38:43 - The Long Voyage Home - This was Eugene O’Neill’s favorite film adaptation of any of his own plays. I think it was unfashionable for a while, after Ford became celebrated for his genre films this prestige picture (the same year as an even bigger prestige picture, The Grapes of Wrath) got shoved aside. Seems like it’s made a comeback. The last act is heartbreaking, and where else do you get to hear John Wayne do a Swedish accent?

13 - 02:41:49 - Fort Apache - One of his richest films, Fonda’s greatest role, I’d have it as #2. I wonder what will be #2. It surely won’t be Fonda’s WORST role, will it?

12 - 02:44:56 - The Iron Horse - This silent epic was his biggest movie, in terms of actual physical scale. He made more mature movies later, but this is pretty damn impressive.

11 - 02:47:28 - They Were Expendable - Either this or The Big Red One is my favorite WWII movie.

10 - 02:51:06 - Mister Robert’s - Ford only directed half of it, earning it the disrespect of auteurists. He left the film fighting with Fonda, who starred in the Broadway production. I like it.
9 - 02:54:08 - 3 Bad Men -
8 - 02:57:04 - The Last Hurrah - Good movie, but I agree with Dave Kehr that it’s weird for a director like Ford to make a movie like this without using his stock company. The “kids these days” stuff is insufferable. I wouldn’t put it this high but I like it.
7 - 03:00:53 - Submarine Patrol - x -is it really this good?
I’m not going to comment on most of the obvious classics below, which I’ve talked about here many other times.
6 - 03:04:09 - Stagecoach -
5 - 03:07:10 - The Informer - This was one of the most lauded movies of its time, but it doesn’t get much respect now.
4 - 03:10:20 - The Quiet Man -
3 - 03:12:58 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance -
2 - 03:15:32 - The Fugitive - Uhhh….lol? I know this has its defenders but…seriously? Joseph McBride identified it as another “evil twin” movie, and though that he made this adaptation of The Power and the Glory (my favorite Graham Greene novel) as revenge for that nasty article Greene wrote about Shirley Temple (BD posted it before, so I’m sure you all remember it). Ford sometimes claimed it was his favorite of his own movies. People speculate that he just picking a commercially unsuccessful movie that critics had reviled to take a piss.
Okay, this is some of his most gorgeous B&W cinematography, but as a drama it’s pretty bad. I love Henry Fonda, but he is bad here. I would much rather watch this than boring shit like Born Reckless or Mary of Scotland, but I would have a much easier time accepting this as 73 and Two Rode Together as #2 (it is a great companion piece to The Searchers).

There’s one other work that Joseph McBride identified as an “evil twin” film that isn’t on this list because it wasn’t a feature film:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047852/

1 03:19:46 - The Searchers